February 2006/5

Lloyd’s insurer Wellington Underwriting plc has announced the retirement of its chief underwriting officer David Foreman in a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning (6 March 2006).

Warren Buffett said the cost of Hurricane Katrina and “her ugly sisters, Rita and Wilma” cost Berkshire Hathaway a total of $3.4bn last year. The investment titan revealed the extent of Berkshire’s bill in his annual letter to the company’s...

Giant reinsurer Swiss Re reported a 41 percent drop in its net income last year it falling to SFR1.451bn from SFR2.475bn in the prior year, a result that reflected a tough year for reinsurers.

The London market has exceeded its latest target laid-down in conjunction with UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), to ensure contract certainty of policies agreed in December.

Lloyd’s insurer Amlin reported this morning (2 March) a record result of 25.4 percent for the 2003 year of trading on Syndicate 2001, beating the previous record of 21.7 percent on the 2002 account. The company said the result, achieved on a capacity..

Marsh UK is in the process of scrapping its final salary pension scheme for its staff and ceasing supplementary benefits for all but the highest earners, The Insurance Insider can reveal. The move is the broker’s latest cost-cutting exercise as its...

French reinsurer SCOR has reported a 25 percent increase in premium income renewed at 1 January for non-life, credit and surety treaties.

Giant insurer American International Group (AIG) has formed a new unit, AIG Specialty Excess, in order to handle all in-force, new and renewal business currently handled by CV Starr & Co agency, a subsidiary of CV Starr & Co, Inc.

Listed Lloyd’s insurer Chaucer reported today (28 February) that it has written £125.8mn of premium, net of brokerage, during January renewals. The premiums are up from January 2005’s figure of £110.3m and represents approximately...

Swiss reinsurer Converium has provided details of restated financial results following an internal review prompted by regulatory investigations into ‘finite’ reinsurance. In a statement this morning (28 February), the company – which has been...

Further downgrades and widening losses as woes mount for reinsurer. The future for PXRE looks bleak, as the troubled reinsurer saw its ratings sink further down the scale after reporting fourth quarter 2005 net losses of $447mn on the back of...

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has cancelled Xsavi Ltd’s permission to trade because of the firm’s failure to comply with standards and inadequate financial resources. It is the first enforcement cancellation taken against a general...